Children’s day is celebrated in India on November 14th,
Jawaharlal Nehru’s birthday. It is a day to celebrate the child. Children are
the family’s greatest wealth and asset. Without Santhana Lakshmi (the goddess
who bestows happiness in children) there is no joy in the family. The laughter,
the mischief and newness children bring into the world is irreplaceable. As the
Japanese say, ‘Children bring the ‘Oh!’ into your life’. It is also a day to
pledge support for children suffering from abuse, violence, discrimination and
death –all avoidable.
One child dies every 90 seconds in India - this means 1.7
million children every year. Many children are motherless because women in
India have only a 50/50 chance of skilled help during childbirth. A woman dies
in childbirth every 10 minutes in our country. The Taj Mahal, the greatest
monument to love, was built for Mumtaz Mahal by Shahjahan in Agra. She died at
child birth, giving birth to her 14th child. The ‘State of World’s
Mothers’ places India 76th on a list which shows the best places to be a
mother. We lose more women every week because of this cause, than they lose in
Europe, in a whole year. This is the same as having 400 Jumbo Boeing 747 planes
crash annually. What is shocking is that one third of child death and 1/5th
of the maternal death are caused by lack of nutrition. 153 million children
between the ages of 5 and 14 are bonded into child labour.
So what can you do to celebrate children’s day:
1.
Write a beautiful letter to each of your
children about how much you value them in your family
2.
Send a gift to their teachers with a letter
thanking them for giving them the gift of knowledge
3.
Plan a special family outgoing, which they find
interesting and exciting.
4.
Children are great imitators. Be a person worth
imitating.
As Magic Johnson said, “All that kids need, is a little
help, a little hope and somebody who believes in them”. On this day give some
poor child some of these gifts.
